Vatican
Strengthens Rules on Sex Abuse

ROME—Pope Francis on Thursday proclaimed new laws governing conduct at the Vatican in a move that makes international agreements on the sexual abuse of minors binding within the Holy See.

The pontiff personally signed what is known as a motu proprio—a directive whose name means "on his own impulse" in Latin—on criminal-law matters, making it clear the new laws applied to all members of the Roman Curia.